Rigged
by Ziven
Summary: Is life a game of skill, or a game of chance? -Bribeshipping, Ryuzaki/Rex x Mai- for the YGO fanfiction contest


The amusement park was crowded and packed full of people, and Mai clicked her tongue against her teeth in protest of all the couples in view. She'd gone on the last day in hopes that there would be fewer of them. Couples made her sick, particularly when she wasn't a part of one.

Mai spend the day thrilling herself on roller coasters, absorbing lustful glances at the food stands, and distracting teenaged boys at the water slides. Her usual corset-jacket combo wasn't changing anytime soon, and it always drew attention, even when she was wearing long-legged jeans instead of a skirt.

It was never the sort of attention she sought, though. She could never get that movie-scenario, where the protagonist encounters a very nice guy who - although was first attracted by the girl's looks - became more attracted to her after they spoke and got to know each other. If she were lucky, they wouldn't have to wait until halfway through the film to meet each other again.

The day was hot, and Mai sat in the resting area for a few moments to dry herself off a bit from the water coaster. She noticed some kids gathering together, mostly boys. Were they gawking at her? She wouldn't have been surprised. Mai wished that just for once she could be ogled by someone who looked respectable, had already gone through puberty, and who was genuinely interested in dating her.

"Alright already! Let's start - I brought my zombie deck!" shouted a gangly one with sloppy hair.

_Deck?_ Her curiosity got the better of her.

When she turned to get a closer look at them, she could see that they were younger than she thought - young enough to not be concerned about her - and that they were preparing for a few rounds of Duel Monsters. She could see the standard decoration on the back of the card, and a boy carrying a small bag was pulling out dueling mats. Mai couldn't blame them. She wouldn't have played on the raw surface either. Might scratch the print on the cards.

It had been months since she played with another person, but the idea of the game being passed to the next generation still excited her. Maybe it would be around for a long time, and maybe it would outlive the maniacs that had been using it to gain power. Maybe, even, it would be around when she got over herself and started playing again. These boys wouldn't see the things that she had, and they would be better off for it.

_I'm not ready_, she reminded herself when she realized that she was fingering the waist pack she always wore. It was where she always kept her cards, even if she wasn't going to use them. After all, who knew when someone's life could possibly be in danger? What if she would be forced to defend her own again?

Her heart began to beat furiously, and Mai slipped away from the area quietly as the children began to duel. The game brought back so many unpleasant feelings for her; she couldn't linger and watch.

The park would close in a few hours and she hadn't yet visited the game of chance booths. Though she didn't play Duel Monsters anymore Mai had still retained her competitive streak, and a fondness for rigged games despite her history with them.

She had some money left, and she didn't want to waste it all on overpriced food, anyway.

The easiest game was always, 'We'll guess your weight!' Her curvy figure was not only useful for distraction: her general shape was also perplexing to most running the booths were typically lucky to guess within even ten pounds, let alone five. For her prize, because they were so far off, she collected a very large stuffed tiger.

It made her thirsty for more.

She went to the ring toss next. It was a game that Mai was moderately good at, and she knew to avoid the really large prizes - she just didn't have the skill to win them. It was an odd game, though, and the prizes she received were a waterproof watch and a bag of candy. Regardless, any win was a win in her book.

She plowed through many of the other games, even the strength test and the rope climbing. The latter put her in an awkward position (though she was sure that it was more awkward for the parents), and she could feel the others whispering behind her, but she persevered and won a cute elephant. In the former, she won a stuffed bowling ball (_W__ho on earth designed these prizes?_ she wondered). In the smaller games she couldn't quite do as well as she wanted.

After a while she grew weary of carrying her spoils. Taking a few moments to think, she decided to make her load a bit lighter. Seeking out a few empty-handed children she passed on all of her prizes - except the tiger, the largest - while she made her way to the arcade. She felt proud of herself after seeing the smiles on their faces, and the smiles of their money-tapped parents at her charity. It was something Yuugi would have done, she decided, and therefore it was good.

She'd almost finished off her funds for the day, but there was one challenge left -

The claw machine. The pinnacle of rigged gaming, the perfect mix of skill and chance. The ultimate temptation. Mai ignored other arcade attractions and ventured straight to a corner that held nothing but claw machines. The fighting games she loved to play would simply sap the rest of her funds. And for no reward. She wasn't traveling with another person who could make it worth her while..

There was another person in the corner, working one of the better-looking machines, and Mai hoped it wasn't the only good one. She browsed around at the prizes inside. Beachballs - easy - cartoon characters from children's shows she didn't recognize, and stuffed animal of various types. In one of them sat a small brown dog with a large head and floppy ears, and it reminded her of Jounouchi. Kaiba had always called him a mutt, right?

She wanted it.

Placing her quarters into the machine, she revved it up. She had 60 seconds, and she took her time; the dog was right at the top. It was simply a matter of correct positioning, and hoping that the claw would rotate to a helpful angle. That was the part left up to chance.

The machines were lined up one by one so that the glass from each one would distort the player's view into the others, but Mai wasn't buying that. She wedged herself, curves and all, between the machines to get proper views on both sides of her target. Iit appeared that she had managed to guestimate the best position. Would the claw open wide enough to capture the head?

Unfortunately, no. The angle wasn't quite right, and one of the claw fingers couldn't grip underneath the dog's head. A waste.

"That was pretty good, heh," said a voice from behind her. It was the guy she'd spotted before, she was sure.

"Better than how you're doing right now, I'm sure," she said, hoping her tone would discourage more conversation. She didn't really want to deal with any kids hitting on her today.

Mai turned to send him a glare for good measure, but they widened in surprise instead.

Then they narrowed. "Ryuzaki."

"So it's _you_, then?" he asked, as if it were no consequence. "Cool." To his benefit, he looked significantly less creepy with Haga absent from his immediate vicinity. Had he not turned around to show his face and that awkward streak of purple, she wouldn't have guessed it was him.

"I _am_ pretty good.".

He nodded in agreement, and Mai appreciated that he hadn't taken back his compliment because of who she was..

Now that she thought about it, she kind of owed him. She'd cheated him, hadn't she? Of all the things she could have recalled, it suddenly struck her that she hadn't repaid her debt. A room on Pegasus's ship hadn't come cheap, and the poor pair of schmucks had been asking for it - but she had been worse. It seemed insignificant, and yet... and yet if she could be spared to live through that hell of a summer, that meant she needed a clean break, right?

"Thanks," she added, as though it made everything go away.

Ryuzaki didn't respond, and they went back to their respective games.

The dog was more difficult to obtain than she had first thought. Winning it became a challenge rather than anything else. The head was shaped so awkwardly, with its floppy ears, that the claw seemed unable to find a way around to fit it comfortably. Mai could see the grooves where the claws could fit, but getting it to move in that position was the part that she couldn't control. That was the 'chance' part of the game. The 'rigged' part was the dog's head shape. Mai decided to take it as a personal insult that she hadn't been able to make it work.

After the sixth game (and therefore three dollars' worth of quarters) she was about ready to give up. She decided to take a break instead.

"How much?" she asked him. Ryuzaki was the only other person in the area. A few kids had come and gone while she was playing. They usually gave up after the first try . They'd rather play something that yielded immediate results, like the video games. Kids usually didn't have the patience.

"Eleven," he said, and she frowned. Eleven dollars on _what_?

"On what?" she asked, checking her pockets. She did owe him, after all. Maybe she could help.

"Dinosaur," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. It was only because of way he said it that she remembered his deck. Dinosaurs.

All of that seemed so far away, after everything that had happened. Sure, the issue with Pegasus had been weird and freaky, but the fact of the matter was that _she_ hadn't had to worry about _him _tampering with her _soul_. It had been Malik that had done that, and in the end the more traumatizing memory was the one she held on to.

"Right. That makes sense," was her reply.

She went back to her game, but wasted another two dollars without any real progress. Once she got the dog to lift a few inches in the air, and it was dragged a bit closer to the dispenser chute. That wasn't really a good thing. The walls of the dispenser would get in the way. Any farther and she would have to waste quarters to move it back, or worse, give up because the claw would hook on the dispensing chute. Crap.

"What about you?" he asked her several minutes later. They were both gritting their teeth in frustration.

"This _stupid_ dog."

Ryuzaki took a single glance over at her, and said, "Careful. It's close."

He seemed to have a grasp for how the game worked. It was impressive.

Mai sighed, and decided she wouldn't be able to get it. Nothing else in the machine looked truly appetizing When she took a few seconds to think on it, she did have the tiger. It was still sitting next to the machine, watching her failure. There was no reason to go home completely broke, after all. Perhaps it was just an unlucky day.

"Yeah," he added, "it's the only one in the machine, too."

In his next game, Ryuzaki pulled a strange character with large eyes and red hair. When Mai peered over to see, it had been covering part of the dinosaur he wanted. He took the character out carefully and sat it on the ground.

"Gonna give it away?" she asked; it was the same thing she had done.

"Yeah." He smiled at her. "The Dino was in the middle when I got here. I've been digging it out."

He must have really wanted it. How many prizes had he won? How many had he given away?

"You've done a good job."

"Not good enough," he sighed, and Mai daresay he looked cute.

She stretched, realizing she only had a handful of dollars left, and fewer quarters. Enough to grab a quick bite to eat on the way home. "I'm gonna call it quits, before my fingers mold to the controls."

"Alright," he said. "Good seeing you." It certainly shouldn't have been, not with the way she had treated him.

"Hey," she called, and when he looked up, Mai reached into one of her pouches and pulled out the rest of her quarters. "I did win something today already. Here. Good luck." She was kind enough to wait until he had finished his current game to place the coins in his hands.

He shoved them into his pockets and nodded curtly before turning back to his machine.. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

When Mai left, tiger in hand, she thought she would calm her nerves by going on a few more roller coasters. It was the best way to chase away defeat, and she could always talk the ride operators into holding her stuffed prize for her.

She had done something good, she decided. They weren't even, by any means, but they were a bit closer to it.

* * *

Revised 3/2/13 for small errors and typo fixes. Please see original commentary below.

You can't believe the sort of day I've had trying to upload *this* thing. I struggled with it -not even the story! the site, and life!- This is late, late, late! And I'm not happy with it but I'm more happy I finally got to upload the darn thing!


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